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Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia PA, USA

Production Of Methanol From Methane

A room-temperature process of converting Natural gas to Methanol

^{Chi Nguyen, Truong Vo}

Objective and Scope

The traditional process involves steam reforming of natural gas, which results in the production of syngas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide). Hence, this production process of methanol at room temperature and pressure has several benefits. One of the most significant benefits is that it eliminates the need for high-temperature and high-pressure processes, which can be hazardous and energy-intensive. Two swing packed bed reactors are used to convert methane and oxygen to methanol with the help of pMMO catalyst. NADH is regenerated in a CSTR and recycled back into the reactors. The product mixture is fed to a separator and then to a Solid-Liquid Centrifuge where NAD+ is separated and moved to CSTR for NADH regeneration. The remaining liquid phase is fed into a distillation tower for optimal separation of methanol and water. The goal is to achieve the highest purity of methanol (99.99%).

Safety concerns

Process Design

Safety and Environment

Process Chemistry

Economics

Conclusions

• From sensitivity study adjusting methanol price per kg to get IRR of 22% is $1.65/kg methanol
• ROR is highly sensitive to changes in MSP of methanol, especially influenced by variations in CAPEX and COM.

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• Not a recommended project given current methanol market size and high raw material cost of NADH and pMMO catalyst
• Low production rate and short life-time of catalyst pMMO constraint the scale up of the process
• Alternative of catalyst and reagent for NADH is recommended for low raw material cost

• Negative cash flow by the end of the project

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• Highly sensitive to raw material cost
• Highly sensitive to capital investment

Economic Feasibility For Base Case:

Recommendations

Synthesis of Methanol from Methane gas, Oxygen and NADH at room temperature

Regeneration of NADH from slurry NAD+ and Hydrogen

Separation of Methanol from Water to 99.9% purity

Risk evaluation of flammable materials